The Decline of NASCAR...What Happened? 

I grew up in the south with several family members, particularly older ones, who were hardcore NASCAR fans. None of them watch the races anymore. The reason they gave me: "It used to be about the cars, and the people who drove them. Now it's cookie-cutter drivers taking cookie-cutter cars around cookie-cutter tracks."

When you can miss 11 races and win the championship something's wrong .

Why NASCAR declined in 1 sentence: They decided the racing wasn't good enough and decided to focus on "entertainment" and changed the rules accordingly.

what killed the sport was when they tried to take a southern regional sport and make it mainstream. the southern fans went away and the mainstream is only short term, when the fad faded the rest of the fans went as well. nascar did just fine for all them years, why did they have to mess with it.

“Safety is boring” -Company Man 2019

Fathers start a business Son’s build the business Grandsons wreck the business

I grew up in that awkward era where Nascar was REALLY popular when I was a little kid, but then completely fell into obscurity by the time I was old enough to actually understand the sport. This was very informative!

The biggest problem is that NASCAR keeps getting further and further away from actual stock car racing it’s impressive that guys used to go to a dealership buy a car work on it and have it going 200 mph in a couple weeks now it’s $400k cars that no ordinary person could ever get their hands on it’s just not as relatable

NASCAR became popular not being a traditional "stick and ball" sport, but decided to change their product to be more like "stick and ball" with standardized equipment, playoffs, ect... and people stopped watching.

Loved NASCAR as a kid. Hate the chase, hate the gimmicks, hate the stages. Hated the Car of Tomorrow. They really blew it.

Two things killed it for me. 1, when they moved away from "stock" cars to the increasingly homogenous cars. 2, All the kindergarten playground rules .

"THE FRANCE FAMILY!" That is the reason for NASCAR decline! Stage Races? Cookie cutter tracks, Cars having to be same as a cookie cutter car, Martinsvile a DIRT TRACK? I am 69 years old, and grew up watching auto racing. And after I got married my wife and I every year went to Taladaga and watched a race in person, and if I had to work on a Sunday, the VCR was set to record and no one better tell me the outcome of the race till I watched it! In short, NASCAR was my sport, Earnhart, Elliot, Wallace, Richard Petty, real men real drivers, They The France Family, RUINED the sport! A friend I used to work with ask me last year which race we were going to go to Alabama and watch, I told him HELL NONE! HELL I DO NOT EVEN WATCH NASCAR ON TV ANY MORE! THE SPORT HAS GONE INTO THE CRAPPER!

1. Restrictor plate engines 2. Cookie cutter cars 3. Their end-of-the-year Chase point system.

Remember once NASCAR got that HUGE contract the networks ruined the sport with endless commercials.

I think the biggest nail in the coffin was changing the way the championship worked. Using the chase and other playoff systems was a huge mistake. I don't understand why the driver who has the most points can't just win like every other motorsport. People got mad at dominance but, why shouldn't the best and most consistent driver just win. Especially at the end of the season when one crash can mean the end of your entire year, even if it's with some backmarker car.

I'm British, I've never even seen a race but reading the comments it obvious what the problem is! NASCAR has moved too far from it's roots. People saw it as more than just car racing, its culture. Funnily enough, some American owners of English football clubs just tried to eradicate the culture from football (you probably call it soccer) with the creation of the superleague and move to the American sports franchise model. They failed miserably and heads rolled in boardrooms right across Europe. The moral is:- They don't care about your sport, just your money!

One morbid answer is that it got too safe, combined with poor management, retiring stars & legends, less driver personalities, the recession, & ticket prices getting higher & higher.

My dad loved nascar which made me love it and we would watch the race every Sunday. Unfortunately he passed away and my interest hasn’t really been there since.

My son and i attended the Winston / Memorial Day race as Dale Earnhardt supporters (from Chicago and never been to a race) 20-yrs ago. Holy Cow - what a “hoot”! As we walked to enter the race every racers has his own promotional trailer hawking every kind of item. Then pre-race going to the infield to see the cars, meet the pit crew & racers still working the car - Dale Earnhardt standing around car talking to his guys - another holy cow! And that dastardly Jeff Gordon! It was a great day! Son now 40+, will never forget the excitement. I think NASCAR forgot their roots and sold out to Madison Ave. They use to be counter-culture / bad-boy / southern / kick--ass event. They weren’t a fancy event for NYC types - it represented true southern heritage! So little of that left in America!

Competition cautions 10 laps into a race when you have an equally silly stage break 10 laps later, Watkins Glen....NASCAR used to be about endurance, and the best built cars would win. Now, with all the breaks, the audience gets gets bored, switches over to dog training shows or reality whatever shows. Bring back the 500 mile, no break, constant, all out racing, and fans will return.

"Driver, you can't show that type of personality or emotion! Our company logo is on your car and racing outfit!"

Another factor: they got rid of a ton of fun smaller tracks and replaced them with generic 1.5 mile ovals that are basically identical, in places that aren’t the south. They even moved the Southern 500 for a while which was nuts

Lost interest when they switched the points system. Personally I like when the most consistent driver for the entirety of the season gets rewarded a championship. Feels like technology kind of took over too much as well when it comes to the cars. Doesn't seem to be all about how good the driver is but how much money each team has. Hendrick for example vs the wood brothers.

We need the Whinston Cup back.

Getting rid of the overly expensive and generic cars would help. Put the stock back in stock car.

I liked the "old" NASCAR when Ford, Chevy and Dodge competed. Now all cars are the same with just decals identifying brand name. They should have learned their lesson from IROC.

Growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s I feel like I grew up on the best era of the sport. The cars, the rivalries, the tracks, the video games, all were just so exciting. I’m grateful for that part of my upbringing, but the dominance of the sport in the 2000’s by one or two elite racing teams robbed the chemistry of it all.

Been watching nascar every year since I was born, and its amazing how well you nailed this. I've been saying for years that the safety is getting in the way of the racing, racing is dangerous so accept it or leave. And yes, the chase/playoff system is absolutely terrible and I think everybody knows its all just a big gimmick now. The drivers are pretty much vanilla now with everyone needing to behave a certain way for sponsors and to be "role models" for viewers. I for one can't stand where the sport is now and its only getting worse with the 2022 regs. But also, my dad did stop watching after Earnhardt died being an Earnhardt fan, that was definitely a big blow.

I was a fan in the 70s and 80s. I remember when Dale Earnhardt was promoting his new #15 Wrangler Thunderbird, let that sink in for a minute. In those days you could immediately tell whether the car was a Ford, Chevy, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, etc. In those days the driver had to drive his machine, the cars weren't all the same size, shape, and possess the same aerodynamic properties. The drivers had personalities but they didn't go fist fight other drivers in public like they were misplaced WWF, yes F, wrestlers. The drivers of old learned their craft off the track where today's drivers are either related to somebody in the sport or their family had enough money to finance them in some other racing series such that they could move up, whether that was the initial intention or not. I know I sound like an old coot that thinks everything old is better than the newer counterpart but NASCAR has changed more than what guys like me can adjust to. Thirty or forty years ago the average race fan was a car guy who could relate to the car-guy drivers that were racing. The drivers were almost expected to be low-life boozehound woman-chasers while today's driver seemingly has a public image to maintain with his respectable behavior and charity functions. It's hard to imagine the likes of a Johnson, LaBonte, or Petty without grease on their hands and under their fingernails where it's hard to imagine any of the newer generation of drivers with dirty hands or messed up hair. And maybe that's my point, older drivers/teams seemed like everyday guys that found a way to make a living from their hobby where the newer group seems to be less relatable to the average person.....and maybe that's just what happens when a sport's fan base grows larger than the core enthusiast of the sport. I don't recall many folks discussing driver's motorhomes or millions in the bank, today that stuff is in your face like and episode of the rich and famous.

Honey, let me tell you about OLD NASCAR... There were these dynasties of drivers- the Pettys, the Earnhardts, the Allisons, the Yarbroughs, the Waltrips, the Wallaces, etc.- Fathers and sons and brothers and cousins, generations of them. It was a very genuine, connected business. There was room for real talent and real creativity. I used to work in NASCAR merchandising. I can remember when you'd call Dale Earnhardt's licensing company about returning some t-shirts, and one of his kids would answer the phone. Now, it's all corporate. You don't have those great families involved any more. There are no outstanding personalities to watch on the track. It's all the same guy, driving the same car, around the same track, and who cares about any of them? There is zero individuality. Today's NASCAR is anathema to it's origins. Dale Jr. was SMART, to get OUT.

I used to watched it Sunday morning when i was suffering from a hangover. I learn something about cars while watching it. I thin the biggest reason for the decline is that cars are more complex and people do not bother with them. There is a lack of appreciation for how cars work and thus an interest in racing them. The next is the lack of strong personalities. You can't just watch it. You have know the drivers. Dale, Richard petty, Waltrip, etc....

It's interesting to notice the difference with Formula One, which by contrast has seen the average age of its fans getting lower and currently has one of the youngest audience of any major sport

*_To be honest, Mario Kart 64 is one of the most interesting sports that race fans wanted to see._*

Boring cars, boring drivers, lack of consistent paint schemes as sponsors, it was at its peak during the “Nextel Cup Series” era and “Sprint Cup Series” has an awful ring to it. NASCAR also changing the points format so many times hasn’t helped. Honestly Championships after 2003 don’t really seem that legit since a playoff format is stupid in Motorsports. They simply lost their identity. Watching old races feels like watching a different sport

“You’re probably gonna see something on Fox you’ve never seen before”-Dale Earnhardt February 18th 2001

I'm almost 50, and have been a fan since I was a kid. My first race to see in person, Richard Petty was still driving. But I lost interest around the car of tomorrow era. The wings were so absurd that it almost single handedly made me lose interest. But I stuck it out for a few more years, until so many rules changes, and changing up the points system made it almost impossible to follow anymore. I was a huge fan, went to both races here at Texas every year, but have not even watched an entire race in about a decade. As for the issue with new fans, the anti-corporate sentiment that is so strong with younger generations likely has a lot to do with that. Corporate sponsorship, being on display the way it is, is what makes the sport work. It's also going to be a detractor for many younger potential fans.

What killed it for me... 1. Lack of personalities i.e. there was no one left to root for after Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jr. left 2. Stages was the nail in the coffin.

Back in the day when the first rule of NASCAR was if you aren't cheating you aren't trying hard enough the sport was in it's prime. Early 70's to the mid 90's was the best. Drivers who can and did work on their own cars. Innovate and dominate was the rule of the day. The car of tomorrow turned me into the fan of yesterday.

I grew up wanting to be a race car driver, I told everyone about it. I’m 50 now and Life happened. I didn’t make my race car driver dream work, so I watched it. A lot, until I wasn’t able to recognize all of my favorite drivers. Numbers changed and paint schemes weren’t consistent. The coverage was better than ever, but the cars and drivers were hard to follow. Next was The chase, it was designed wrong from the beginning. Here’s how it should have been: only top 3 get season trophy’s. at the last race, whoever has the most wins. if 2 drivers have the same #, then a shootout occurs. For first, second, and third. 5 laps. The races are too long, they need to be more shorter races. They penalize drivers and teams so hard that there no room for a guy similar to Earnhardt. He and his team wouldn’t make it now. The cars are safer, I’m ok w that. But let the Toyotas and Chevys look different, come freakin on. Keep them safe, but make them different. Let the manufacturers decide the shapes. If there was one thing that tipped the scales for me it was the evil stepmother that took everything away from Jr. Everyone knew what his dad wanted, but she wasn’t having it. She will be going to hell for her actions. More iroc style races. Stock cars. How about a Tesla race? Corvette race? All cars that race MUST BE the same cars SOLD AT DEALERSHIPS. More short tracks and road courses, dirt. Change it up. LET THE RACE IN THE RAIN WITH RAIN TIRES! I stopped watching it 10-12 years ago. There’s more, but this is too long. Happy trails all.

The decline in sponsor monies, shifts to more 'corporate friendly' drivers took over, no more fights in pits, stopped races at popular traditional locations, politics, Toyota, aging out of the audience and failure to be more diverse, too difficult to cheat to win. RJ Reynolds and other tobacco sponsors got into the sport to advertise on cars when TV ads were banned in the early 1970's. By the late 1990's, Federal and state laws ended such marketing and tobacco demand was much lower so their money disappeared and not replaced at the same level and still much higher costs to operate cars. Today many companies find auto racing connected marketing to be of limited benefit, they get a much bigger return with better targeted ads on other programs, sports No doubt the drivers changed, to more 'corporate friendly' ones, stiff penalties if even looked at a driver the wrong way. They were good drivers for sure, like Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson but not traditional in personality. Some like Stewart were the last of 'old school' style but his causing in part the death of a driver in a non-Nascar race, some of his toughness, wasn't liked anymore. Many races left fan favorite (North Wilksboro) traditional tracks to 1.5 mile cookie cutter ovals with no personality and owned by the France family or 2 other big groups. Only a few are left that are owned by independents. Some had to be ended as couldn't meet modern safety standards. Then you had the audience getting older as noted, not replaced by younger fans some of whom are more into other action sports, if into vehicles then into Japanese brands. Toyota in and Chrysler brand out. Many like me never accepted Toyota as a NASCAR brand as not a USA based company. Politics was part of it, they banned the CSA battle flag from being displayed at race sites, turning off some fans. NASCAR was and still is a 'White Southern Male' dominated sport, failing to attract Black and Hispanic/Latino drivers, owners, with a few exceptions and not getting a more diverse audience. And yes no innovations, no cheating, cars much slower, for sound safety reasons. Too many races too long with long multi crash endings and supplement laps to have a race to the end.

Car of tomorrow ruined it for me. When I can’t tell the difference between a Ford and Chevy, I’m done. The 2nd thing is the crop of drivers, they are all so bland.

Got boring when the cars no longer resembled real cars.

The biggest issue for me was the chase and the nascar playoffs. The reasons a race is exciting is speed and the amount of competition per race. When they were at their highest, there were 43 drivers per race. When the play offs happened at the end of the season you have a low number of drivers. Whos going to watch 4 drivers run around a track? Also the other thing that kills a Nascar race, the stages. It stops the race dead. Stops all momentum of the race. It makes no sense at all. They do it for safety reasons, but seeing drivers living on the edge and seeing wrecks is what made racing exciting.

1) They priced themselves out of it. Greed 2) As enthusiasm dwindled, they started changing the rules to make it more interesting. 3) The new savior Kyle Busch that cheats and gets praised for it. 4) The older guys that been there forever were being forced out or just got tired of the politics of it all.

I lived in Richmond, VA when Dale died. After that every car on the road had a "3" sticker on their cars. Now you never see them. Not only that you almost never see NASCAR stickers on cars. My all time favorite was the car I saw with a ton of Jeff Gordon stickers, and also a gay pride sticker

Loss of “Stock” in stock car, and stupid rules that made NASCAR the WWE of motorsport.

Born in ‘62 and became a NASCAR Grand National fan in ‘73. I missed a lot of great racing action before my time as a fan. Richard Petty was my guy. STP was “The Sponsor”; The Racers Edge! My dad drove a Dodge, so I was locked in. Grand National Stock Car Racing was of a different time. A time when real drivers and their gutsy crews stepped up to work their asses off on the track to support their families while thrilling all the fans. Those guys were heroes for the shows they put on and sometimes gave their lives for. NASCAR and NHRA’s brand association motto, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” was a real thing. All the factory Hi Perf cars Dodge, Plymouth, Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet, Olds, Pontiac, Buick and AMC put out during the golden years of muscle cars was one of the most special times of my life. I was lucky enough to be around when these masterpieces were just cars on the streets. It really was a great time to be alive. Now many of the same cars are rare, highly coveted and super expensive. Today, all we have is the Challenger, Mustang and Camaro. None of these Pony cars were in NASCAR back in the day. They were built for the TransAm Series. The fact that they are in present day NASCAR along with the Toyota Camry is one of the many the reasons that NASCAR is dead. I haven’t been to or seen a NASCAR race on TV since the “Car of tomorrow”. I had become a Jeff Gordon fan. When the 48 team won 5 straight championships, that’s when fat lady sang on NASCAR. Other reasons: -When the cars stopped being derived from actual stock full sized factory 2 door rear wheel drive coupes. -When big money sponsorships became a necessity to compete. -When single car Owner/Driver teams were forced out. -When NASCAR became a spec racing series like IROC. What happened to “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’!? -When NASCAR alienated their core Southern fans and tracks to “Grow the sport”! They were just greedy. Had they had the intelligence to know the audiences NASCAR was already reaching in the early 70’s without stepping on too many toes they would have taken baby steps toward improvements and expansion. -NASCAR pissed away it’s product. The intrigue of the moonshine runners outrunning the police in their specially modified and tuned cars. Now it’s just good money after bad aimed at the goal of making something that was once so relevant, so American die a disgraceful death.

No mention of a huge reason. NASCAR is limited in how much of it can grow because of its ambiance. Huge segments of the population are not going anywhere near the track because of the impression that they are not welcome there. You can argue that the impression is wrong, but you cannot deny the perception. All of the whining we hear about not being able to bring Confederate flags to race tracks certainly does not help.

NASCAR has lost its personality! The drivers have no personality, the tracks have no personality and the cars have no personality. Too many cookie cutter tracks and cookie cutter drivers!

Will Ferrell made a movie on them at the peak, now *nobody cares.*

Imagine, if it were possible, that the NBA transformed all players + restricted them to 6'5", then made them wear weighted shoes so they couldn't jump too high... I guarantee the same thing would happen to their viewership

When the legendary #3 Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt passed away God rest his soul, so did NASCAR in my opinion.

Restrictor plates and the “Chase” format. End of story

So doc from cars illegally smuggled alcohol....cool

The day they let Toyota on the track, NASCAR was dead to me.

Watching cars go around an oval track for hours was never that exciting, but getting in your RV, tailgating and grilling for 3 days at the site of the race, and drinking a cold one at 11am on a Saturday seemed kind of fun. The social and party crowd aspect was a huge part of their fan base. Kind of like owning a boat for many of us- it's fun for a few years and then one day you wake up think "Why am I dedicating so much time and money to this??"

Lost interest in Nascar in my late teens (2004ish) when I discovered WRC/Rally and Road Course racing with more realistic cars.

"The car with the chevy decals, passed the car with the ford decals, but couldn't catch the car with the toyota decals". That's the issue: no more stock in stock car racing! Back in the 60's, 70's, 80's besides the drivers, people cheered on the cars also. It was called brand loyalty. Try using camaros, mustangs, and challengers in "stock form", along with production based engines.

A useless playoff system. Cautions every third of the race in addition to competition cautions way too often. Over eagerness to throw cautions, and a tendency for a while to seem like they were manipulating races with cautions. And then you have tracks like Bristol which reconfigured a track that was perfect and made it less interesting. NASCAR gained its highest popularity in mid-2000s when everything was mostly the same it had been, it didn't need to change. Everything has dropped with all subsequent changes from there on.

The biggest problem in the past 10 years is they've lost some of that star power. Drivers like Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and more have all retired. But in my opinion, I feel like with the new car, which puts on great racing and is definitely pleasant to look at, and generally being more ethical as far as progressiveness to be appealling to younger and a wider audience, NASCAR's stopped the bleeding and is going to make a comeback soon. Tune in this weekend at pheonix for example, it'll be a fun one I'm sure, just like the last 3 weeks. Or watch the 10 minute highlights nascar on fox puts out on RU-vid of the last race or two.

The personality in nascar is gone... Remember how they treated Jimmy Spencer..??? Nascar turned it's back on the common man.. The end...

Gordon fans quit watching when the chase cost him 3 championships

Decline... TMS was packed with over 150K people in the early to mid 2000's. Now they barely pack the front stretch. Lets be real, too many changes, less stock more dedicated cars, less manufacturers, toned down everything... rule changes, inconsistent penalties, and going woke!

Tbh, the sport was huge. The whole aura of it was massive. It was mainly a Dad-Son event. My dad got me into it cause of he love of Dale Earnhardt Sr and then I loved it and we carried the tradition every Sunday watching his son. But what actually killed the sport was the constant rule changes and terrible car changes. Alot of Drivers was very vocal about how things went south literally "North". The sponsors lost intrest and great veteran drivers moved to other territories.

I used to watch NASCAR....now I watch grass grow, because it's more exciting.

I stopped going regularly when we lost our races at North Wilksboro, and Rockingham.

The Oppermans from Texas will always love and miss Dale Earnhardt Sr, your fans forever. Yes, Dale Earnhardt Sr was the only reason we followed Nascar because we were devoted to Dale and his racing. When we lost Dale we lost our desire to watch afterwards. We followed Neil Bonnett plus Dale since they were best buddies. We have not watched since 2001 when Dale Sr died. Thank you from Jerry and Sugar Bear and Gloria and Bear, Dale Earnhardt Sr fans forever

You hit on all the points. What it came down to was that Nascar was always playing by themselves in the corner, doing their own thing. Then, in the 80s & 90s, they exploded and suddenly they were playing in the sandbox with the "cool kids" (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) and they liked the toys over there better. Once the big TV money came in and Dale left us, tragically, (still breaks my heart) then NASCAR began to appeal to their new champagne fanbase and changed their rules to match the big 4, whereas it was no longer a marathon regular season, but rather a playoff with a shorter window to compete for a title. Their mindset was not entirely off base, but they veered too far away from what they were and the people they were marketing to, were not in it for the long haul.

I have been a NASCAR fan since the 70's. I stopped watching it probably around 2010 and haven't followed it at all, other than cursory checks once in awhile, for probably the last 5 years. Here is my take: 1. The current format is NOT racing. It's a bunch of potty breaks for the drivers of the vehicles as well as a chance for the network to squeeze in a few more commercials. 2. The drivers are whiny and succumb to the "it's everyone else's fault but mine" mentality whenever ANYTHING goes wrong. 3. People used to care about who drove what. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Plymouth, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury. Cars that were recognizable and actually looked like something you could go down to the dealership and purchase. Today's cars are nothing more than templates with pretty much only stickers and the shape of the rear side windows to tell them apart. To that end, I believe the manufacturers (Dodge for example) gave up because they were tired of NASCAR continually changing the rules for bodies. 4. The announcers. Darrell Waltrip in particular. A 4th rate announcer, a 2nd rate driver and a 1st rate asshole. I couldn't be happier he's gone. Annoying and biased. Good riddance. 5. The points system. A championship should ONLY be for a driver who is the best and most consistent over the course of a season and not just for 10 (or whatever it is) races. It's simply an "everybody gets a trophy" mindset. There are more reasons, but I think I've made a point. I now watch the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Series. It's basically Australian NASCAR. Check that out for far more interesting racing.

The main reason I stopped watching: The Chase. Stopped watching when all these rules for the chase were implemented. It's so dumb and gets worse every year in my opinion. I really do not feel like the best driver of the season wins, it's a garbage system.

I stopped watching in 2015 when Jeff Gordon retired. I grew up loving Nascar with my dad, the crashes and competition was my favorite! I still remember the race Dale Earnhardt died in, my dad was SO sad because he was my dad's favorite. Jeff Gordon was my favorite. We'd always watch and tease each other on how well they're doing in the race. Then Dale Earnhardt Jr became my dad's new favorite but it wasn't the same.. We both stopped watching it as much as we used to, but still did. I stopped watching it when Jeff Gordon retired and my dad stopped watching it two years later when Jr retired. No one watches MMA because they're pillow fighting, they watch it for the brutality. No one wants to watch Nascar if it's safe and barely any risk for death.. It's boring like that. If you're going to be getting paid millions of dollars, there needs to be life risk or it's boring as heck to me. For example, I hate sports like football, baseball, soccer, etc.. because they're boring. Take away basically all the rules of Nascar and turn it into, "anything goes"(obviously pertaining to racing) and I think you'd pull in a CRAP load more people/views. Allowing people to use whatever they want on their cars and not limit much at all would add an insane amount of fun and risk to it. The riskier you are with your life, the more money you could make by winning. Danger is fun, going around in circles for 3hrs with barely anything happening is not. The crashes and brutal competition make Nascar, Nascar.

2 things that can possibly help NASCAR business get back to the top: 1). Letting younger people (in their 20's and 30's) ride, drive, and compete in racing car races 2). Making race car video games, game apps, toys, etc. for the younger generation

"Oh yeah I used to like racing but then I became more environmentally conscious." -No-one ever.

Good video, but one other factor is the ticket prices soaring. For a largely blue collar audience, tickets being 60 dollars is crazy to watch cars drive

I feel like I’ve watched NASCAR / NHRA almost my whole life. Also spent my childhood and into my 30’s at the local tracks and strips. You’ve made many valid points especially the cars being almost identical. Part of the excitement was “backing your brand.” I couldn’t even tell you if he Manufacturer Standings still exist. This was the point of “Stock” or “Super Stock”, brand against brand. The new drivers don’t stand out at all. The passion and skill isn’t there like it used to be. You followed drivers because they could push the boundaries skillfully to win races. Mostly, I think Hollywood also helped the decline of the sport. Car racing and car culture movies get right into the action, non stop, with a story line. NASCAR could do a way better job of telling the story of their drivers, crews, etc. to keep the momentum going. In the days before internet and instant gratification, we learned about our drivers and brands through print media that helped build the culture. We were invested in them. While that may still exist, most don’t rely on big media to point us in the direction of who or what is new and exciting.

Prohibitive ticket prices could be one cause. They bill themselves as family-friendly. Now what family of four or more can afford $39.00 four times????

They got away from their Southern roots and it backfired on them. I'm not saying they can't have tracks outside the South, but its primarily fanbase was always in the South, and that's where it made its most money.

*I used to be a MAJOR NASCAR enthusiast..,* *...but then **_everything changed when the 2010s attacked._*

Your reasons for Nascar's decline are spot on. Here are some other things from my perspective: 1) Too many slow road races on weird tracks with bus stops and chicanes ??? and in weird places, like an idiotic LA Coliseum race to start the season or a "can't wait" Chicago city race soon. Nascar people hate big cities. More Talladega, less LA. 2) It's gotten very PC and going overboard to bring in new groups of fans (which is good) but in a transparent patronizing way (which is counterproductive). For example, Nascar and the TV announcers gush unearned praise on mediocre drivers Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez for every little thing they do, and it's turning fans off who don't care about a driver's race but how a driver races. 3) Nascar driver's today aren't allowed to be themselves like the old drivers - they get their testosterone and competitive spirit shut down by Nascar management. Imagine if these executives ran professional wrestling, it might look more like square dancing. 4) The races on TV have an unbearable number of nearly endless commercials. Ten laps into this year's Daytona 500 there were even 18 commercials in a row! Don't the races have sponsors already? I have actually stopped watching Nascar on TV. Now, I listen to MRN or PRN on the radio because it's more enjoyable, then watch the highlights on the Nascar app.

I live near the Charlotte Motor Speedway and I think the end started when they came out with the car of tomorrow. You could no longer go to the local dealer and buy a street version of the car you saw win the day before.

I used to attend 2-4 races a year. I had a motorhome to attend, some tracks made it less friendly for us, so I sold it. TV rights, used to be able to watch without having a top tier cable package, also start times all over the place. New, entitled drivers. Constant rule changing and boring racing, mandatory cautions?

Still to this day most people have broadcast TV and if you haven't noticed cable TV is going down to who wants to pay $120 a month to watch commercials all day

What killed NASCAR? Restrictor plates. The cars are all the same under the body work. The only reason people go to Talladega 500 is the see "The Big One". crash.

The safety is not what bores me. What bores me is the increased road course racing. If I want to watch cars going 90 miles an hour, I'll go sit next to I-94.

Car of tomorrow, no racing to the flag, overpricing, cookie cutter tracks, no short track month, stage racing, there are hundreds of reasons, basically - corporate greed.

I'm a younger guy (24), always been into cars, I know a lot about mechanics and working on cars And yet...I've NEVER found Nascar entertaining! Watching 40+ cars (that are all the same tightly regulated cookie-cutter template) go in a circle for hours on end, on T.V... it's just not interesting IMO

Well, I think you're spot on. I attended races for over a decade. I'm still a casual fan, but I hardly watch it anymore. The proverbial nail in the coffin for me was the constant changing of the point system. They created The Chase to compete with stick and ball sports. They tried to create a "playoff" atmosphere. Many hated it. Now, it's just ridiculous. If I turn on a race, I'm completely lost. If they went back to just racing to win for the entire year, I'd watch again.

I started watching NASCAR when I was 6 years old in 1989. I watched damn near every race from then until 2011-2012 minus some races missed during my enlistment in the military. My favorite driver retired in 2005, I never liked the rule changes, the points changes, the no racing to the yellow flag, the giving a lap back to competitors for no reason at all, you used to have to pass the leader to get a lap back. I tried to watch a race a few months ago and they have these "stages" now which reminds me of quarters in a basketball game. I wouldn't even mind this if they didn't throw a yellow and stop the field for no reason, it's a race, let them race, you're supposed to have pit, fuel, and tire strategy play into who wins. Now that's essentially gone. I find myself on youtube watching old races now and I have no interest in the sport any longer. I don't even recognize most of the driver names anymore

There’s something about the way you present your content that just gets me hooked. Love your videos man. Keep it up!

I started watching NASCAR in the 70's and lost interest when they started the new "Chase" format. It's not 'racing' anymore.

I recently got back into the sport this year (2022) because since my grandpas driver, Jimmie Johnson, retired I wanted someone to cheer for. My driver, Junior, retired several years before and since the races were soo long I couldn’t watch it that long. When they came out with stages I was at first upset but now I really like it as it breaks it up like most other sports with quarters or periods. I think the sport is on and uprise it just needs to capture the attention of the younger audience like how F1 is starting to do that.

I moved away from Nascar after they implemented the "Stage system." It is my belief that allows the "participation trophy" mentality to florish.

As a NASCAR RU-vidr watching this video you hit it right on the head. The NASCAR RU-vid community is gonna love this video! Thank you for making this!

Smoking, Rock music...Nascar, they all belong to a culture that had it's era. Different times now.

I'm a fan of the late 2000's early 2010's days. That's when I truely took the dive into NASCAR.

I quit NASCAR when they brought in the Car of Tomorrow. IROC already exists, and nobody was clamoring for NASCAR to be more like it. The image became too family-friendly, too well-cultivated. It failed to resonate as authentic. They also "expanded" to new tracks in new parts of the country, but only succeeded in ostracizing old/current fans and not really creating new fans in these new areas to replace them.

I’d say NASCAR’s troubles started with the death of Dale Earnhardt

As a NASCAR fan, here are some reasons nascar isn’t as popular: 1) the format changes-In 2003, NASCAR changed the championship format. 2) Popular drivers retiring-Drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, And Matt Kenseth...all fan favorites..had massive fanbases. With those fans left without a driver to root for, they either left nascar entirely, Or rooting on their protégée VIA Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones. 3) Introduction of stage racing-Divided races into 3 segments. I would say that nascar is on a slight upswing in 2019. Good races and popular drivers like Chase Elliott being successful have brought in slight but noticeable TV rating changes for the better. Admittedly yeah the races get boring, but I’m a fan for life. And i ain’t leavening now!

I Love that you include Dale Earnhardt. I used to be a devoted Fan watched all the races but That Day at Daytona was the last race i ever watched there is not another Driver that embodies Nascar like Dale Earnhardt.

As a current NASCAR fan the biggest issues are regarding the cars as of 2022 the fact the cars have single center lugnuts, rear diffusers more restricted engines low profile tires that once they blow a tire they get stuck number placement the social justice stuff from 2020 constantly changing schedules removal of the clash from daytona to the LA coliseum a dirt bristol race etc